Acoustics Australia

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40857-022-00276-3

TECHNICAL NOTE

Mechanical and Acoustic Properties of Ceramsite Sound Absorbing

Boards with Gradient Structure
Kai Yang1 · Guangcheng Long1 · Zhuo Tang1 · Xiaoyan Pan2 · Weiqing Su2 · Youjun Xie1

Received: 4 May 2022 / Accepted: 19 July 2022

© Australian Acoustical Society 2022

Abstract
In this work, ceramsite was utilized to fabricate the sound-absorbing boards, in which two types of structure were considered,
specifically, single-layer board with homogenous structure and double-layer board with gradient structure. The physical,
mechanical and acoustic properties of these prepared ceramsite sound absorbing boards were studied, including the bulk
density, compressive strength, flexural strength, softening coefficient, sound absorption coefficient and sound reduction index.
The results show that the double-layer board with appropriate mixture design exhibited almost identical bulk density and
mechanical strength to the single-layer board. All ceramsite sound absorbing boards had compressive and flexural strengths
of more than 3 MPa and 1 MPa, respectively, and also demonstrated good water resistance. In terms of sound absorption
and sound insulation properties, the overall performance of the double-layer board with reasonable gradient structure was
better than that of the single-layer board. In addition, the physical structure models of ceramsite sound absorbing boards were
established to illustrate the variation of mechanical properties and disclose the mechanism of sound absorption and insulation
in the material.

Keywords Ceramsite sound absorbing boards · Gradient structure · Mechanical properties · Acoustic properties · Physical
structure model

1 Introduction absorption and insulation to mitigate noise propagation and

With the rapid development of modern industry and trans-
portation industry, noise pollution is becoming more and
more serious. It has been reported that noise pollution has
escalated into a contemporary worldwide problem, which is
listed as one of the four major global pollutions, alongside
water pollution, air pollution and solid waste pollution [1].
The relevant surveys have suggested that the residents usually
exposed to noise pollution could suffer from hearing loss, and
under severe cases, their incidence rate of heart attack would
be increased greatly [1, 2]. Especially in the human settle-
ments adjacent to highways, urban viaducts and high-speed
railways, the impact of noise has emerged as an increas-
ingly significant issue that justifies considerable effort [2].
Therefore, the urgency to take effective measures of sound
B Zhuo Tang
zhuo.tang@csu.edu.cn
1 School of Civil Engineering, Central South University,
Changsha 410075, Hunan, China
2 China Railway Design Corporation, Tianjin 300308, China
protect individuals from overexposure is evident.
Porous sound-absorbing materials have been widely used
in noise reduction due to their porous porosity structure, par-
ticularly in sound absorption. The major function of porous
structures was to provide superior sound absorption per-
formance by the friction behavior of the wall of the pores
and the viscosity effect of the air in the pores [3, 4]. Gen-
erally, porous sound-absorbing materials can be classified
into organic fibrous materials, inorganic fibrous materials,
foam sound absorption materials, metal sound absorption
materials and cement-based sound absorption materials [5,
6]. The fibrous and foam materials had the main disadvan-
tage of poor strength and durability, and the cost of metal
sound absorption materials was too expensive nowadays.
Thus, several academics [7–10] have investigated cement-
based ceramsite sound absorbing materials, attributing their
good sound-absorbing capabilities, adjustable mechanical
and durability properties, as well as their considerable eco-
nomic benefits and environmental sustainability. From the
characteristics of raw materials, ceramsite is a type of arti-
ficial and environmentally friendly aggregate made of clay

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or shale and manufactured by high-temperature calcination.
It is featured with a porous internal structure with a hon-
eycomb shape inside [9, 10]. As a result, ceramsite is a
light and porous raw material that is very suitable for sound
absorption. On the other hand, cement-based ceramsite sound
absorbing material is formed by wrapping and bonding cer-
amsite particles with cement paste. It means that in addition
to the pores that existed in the ceramsite itself, numerous
voids are formed by the mutual accumulation of ceramsite
particles [10]; thereby, the cement-based ceramsite sound
absorbing materials exhibit good sound absorption perfor-
mance. Existing studies by Luan et al. [7] and Wu et al. [10]
have reported that the average sound absorption coefficient
(arithmetic mean of sound absorption coefficients of six fre-
quencies, i.e., 125 Hz, 250 Hz, 500 Hz, 1000 Hz, 2000 Hz
and 4000 Hz) of the cement-based ceramsite sound absorb-
ing materials was greater than 0.5. Besides, ceramsite sound
absorbing material belongs to cement-based material, which
can achieve various properties such as strength and durabil-
ity.
Although many existing studies reveal that ceramsite
sound absorbing material has good sound-absorbing perfor-
mance at high frequency, but its sound-absorbing coefficients
at the low and medium frequencies usually lead to unsatisfac-
tory results [11, 12]. Currently, scholars have adopted some
measures to improve the sound absorption coefficient at low
and medium frequencies, such as increasing the thickness
of the material and reserving an air cavity with a certain
thickness behind the material [13, 24, 26]. However, increas-
ing the thickness of the material would increase the bulk
density and cost of the material. Also, although the method
of reserving air cavity behind the material improves sound
absorption performance at low and medium frequencies, cer-
amsite sound absorbing materials still have a narrow sound
absorption band [14, 15]. What is more, for field applica-
tions, such as acoustic barriers for traffic noise mitigation,
in addition to meeting the sound insulation requirements,
the physical and mechanical properties of ceramsite sound
absorbing materials should also be investigated to ensure that
the materials have sufficient strength and durability to resist
the influence of environmental agents [16]. Therefore, it is
necessary to conduct relevant studies on the mechanical and
acoustic properties of ceramsite sound absorbing boards with
gradient structure to give full play to their advantages and
broaden their field application in sound absorption and insu-
lation.
Given the above, single-layer and double-layer ceramsite
sound absorbing boards were designed and manufactured
in this work. The basic physical–mechanical properties and
acoustic properties of these developed boards were studied.
Based on the test findings, the effect of gradient structure
on physical–mechanical properties and acoustic properties
was investigated. At last, the corresponding mechanism was
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100
Passing cumulative (%)
80
60
40
coarse ceramsite
20 fine ceramsite
0
0 1 2 3 4 5
Sieve opening (mm)
Fig. 1 Particle size distributions of coarse and fine ceramsite
discussed by establishing the physical structure model of
material. Overall, this research aimed to provide theoretical
reference and technical support for preparing gradient-
structured ceramsite sound absorbing materials used in field
applications.
2 Experimental Programs
2.1 Design and Preparation of Ceramsite Sound
Absorbing Boards
Two types of commercial ceramsite were used as the aggre-
gates, including coarse ceramsite and fine ceramsite. The
particle ranges of coarse and fine ceramsite were 0–5 mm
and 0–3 mm, respectively. The particle size distributions of
coarse and fine ceramsite are shown in Fig. 1. The cement
paste was used as the binder, which was mainly composed
of P·O 42.5 cement and water. In this study, three kinds of
mix proportions (i.e., ➀–➂) were designed for the ceramsite
sound absorbing material in consideration of particle grada-
tion of ceramsite and content of cement paste. The details
of the mix proportions are presented in Table 1. The mix ➀
adopted all coarse ceramsite as the aggregates, the mix ➁
used half coarse and half fine ceramsite as the aggregates,
and the mix ➂ adopted higher content of cement paste on the
basis of mix ➁.
Based on the above mix proportions, three types of cer-
amsite sound absorbing boards were designed. Specifically,
specimen A was a single-layer board prepared by the mix
➀, while specimens B and C were double-layer boards pre-
pared by mix ➀ and mix ➁ or ➂. The length and width of
sound-absorbing boards were about 975 mm and 495 mm,
respectively. The details of the design schemes are pre-
Acoustics Australia

(a) Vibratory compaction equipment (b) Formed sound absorbing boards

Fig. 2 Vibratory compaction equipment and formed sound-absorbing boards

Table 1 Mix proportions of ceramsite sound absorbing materials performance of the specimen according to the following test
(kg/m3 ) methods.
Mix Coarse ceramsite Fine ceramsite Cement paste

➀ 710 0 242
2.2 Test Methods
➁ 355 355 242
2.2.1 Physical and Mechanical Properties
➂ 355 355 805

The physical and mechanical properties of the specimen, i.e.,

Table 2 Design schemes of ceramsite sound absorbing boards bulk density, compressive strength, flexural strength and soft-
ening coefficient, were tested as per Chinese standards of [17,
Specimens The thickness The thickness Total
18]. Three plate specimens with a dimension of 100 × 100 ×
of layer X of layer Y thickness
(mm) 50 mm were used for the measurement of the bulk density
of each group; Three plate specimens with a size of 100 ×
A (single- 50 mm (➀) 0 mm 50 100 × 50 mm were tested for the compressive strength of
layer)
each group, and the compressive surface of specimens was
B (double- 35 mm (➀) 15 mm (➁) 50
layer)
100 × 100 mm; One plate specimen with a size of 250 ×
250 × 50 mm was tested for the flexural strength of each
C (double- 35 mm (➀) 15 mm (➂) 50
layer) group. The flexural strength of the specimen was tested by
three-point bending test as per the Chinese standard of [17],
in which the force (F) was loaded in the two directions on
the midspan of the specimen successively. The schematic
sented in Table 2. The ceramsite sound absorbing boards diagram of the flexural strength test is shown in Fig. 3. The
were manufactured by industrial production technology. The flexural strength in one direction on the midspan of the spec-
raw materials were mixed and stirred according to the cor- imen was calculated via Eq. (1).
responding mix proportion, and then, the ceramsite sound
absorbing boards were formed by vibratory compaction. The 3F L
pressure during the vibratory was around 15 kN, and the ft  (1)
2be2
vibratory compaction was maintained for 2–4 s. Figure 2a
and b shows the vibratory compaction equipment and the where f t is the flexural strength (MPa); F is the peak load
formed sound-absorbing boards, respectively. (N); L is the span (mm); and b and e are, respectively, the
The formed ceramsite sound absorbing boards were cov- width and thickness of the section subjected to flexure (mm).
ered with plastic films for preventing the evaporation of
free water in mixtures and then were stored in a closed The softening coefficient was used to characterize the
room at ambient temperature for curing. After curing for water resistance of the specimen, which was the ratio of the
28 days, experimental tests were carried out to evaluate the compressive strength of the specimen in the water-saturated

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Fig. 4 Reverberation room

Fig. 3 Schematic diagram of flexural strength test

state to that under the dry state. The water-saturated state was
achieved by immersing the specimen in water at 20 ± 2 °C for
3d. And the test method was following the above-mentioned
compressive strength test. It should be noted that all the above
specimens for physical and mechanical properties testing
were cored from the corresponding sound-absorbing boards,
and the average of the multiple test results was taken as the
final result.
Fig. 5 Sound source room of sound insulation test
2.2.2 Acoustic Properties

In this study, the sound absorption coefficients and the sound
reduction indexes of the prepared ceramsite sound absorb-
ing boards were tested in the Chinese National Engineering
Research Center for Digital Construction and Evaluation of
Urban Rail Transit. In the reverberation room, twenty-one
pieces of ceramsite sound absorbing boards (the total area
of ceramsite sound absorbing boards was about 10.5 m2 )
were placed in the room floor for sound absorption coef-
ficients measurements, with the layer X facing upwards (as
shown in Fig. 4). The acoustic field was diffuse and the angles
of incident sound waves were random in the reverberation
room, which was closer to the actual conditions during ser-
vice. Moreover, the sound absorption volume of the boards
was calculated from the average reverberation time of each
frequency when the boards were placed and not placed via
ISO standard [19], so the sound absorption coefficient at
each frequency from the reverberation test could be equal
to the average coefficient of multiple tests. Thus, the sound
absorption coefficients obtained by the reverberation room
were reliable to reflect the sound absorption performance of
the materials. The sound reduction indexes were measured
in a sound insulation test room. The sound insulation test
room consisted of two adjacent reverberation rooms, i.e., the
sound source room and the sound reception room. In the test
hole between the two rooms, four ceramsite sound absorbing
boards were installed, with the layer X of ceramsite sound
absorbing board toward the sound source room (as shown in
Fig. 5).
3 Results and Analyses
3.1 Physical and Mechanical Properties
Figure 6 shows the physical and mechanical properties of
ceramsite sound absorbing specimens. Figure 6a shows that
the bulk densities of all the specimens were lower than
1000 kg/m3 . As an example, the bulk density of specimen
B was 860.8 kg/m3 , which was about 1/3 times the density
of concrete (around 2400 kg/m3 ). Also, the bulk density of
double-layer specimens B and C was greater than that of
the single-layer specimen A. Specifically, the bulk density
of specimen B was increased by 1.2%, and the bulk den-
sity of specimen C was increased by 17.3%, compared with

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1200 6

997.8
1000

Compressive strength/MPa
850.7 860.8 4.22
Bulk density/kg/m3

800 4 3.89
3.77

600

400 2

200

0 0
A B C A B C
Sample Sample
(a) Bulk density (b) Compressive strength

3.0 1.0
0.92
0.87
0.83

2.5
Flexural strength/MPa

2.37
Softening coefficient

2.0 0.5

1.5
1.30
1.21

1.0 0.0
A B C A B C
Sample Sample
(c) Flexural strength (d) Softening coefficient

Fig. 6 Physical and mechanical properties of ceramsite sound absorbing specimens

specimen A. This was attributable to the more compact accu-
mulation of ceramsite in layer Y of specimens B and C due
to the mixing of coarse and fine ceramsite, as well as the fact
that layer Y of specimen C had large content of cement paste,
which had a higher density than ceramsite.
As demonstrated in Fig. 6b, the compressive strengths of
all specimens were greater than 3 MPa. The compressive
strength of double-layer specimen B was marginally lower
than that of single-layer specimen A, while the compressive
strengths of specimens A and B was, respectively, decreased
by 7.8% and 10.7% compared with specimen C. As shown in
Fig. 6c, the flexural strengths of all specimens were greater
than 1 MPa. Comparatively, the flexural strength of double-
layer specimen C was the highest, which was almost twice
that of specimens A and B. This was because that the flexural
strength was mainly determined by the tensile strength of bot-
tom portion, and the layer Y of specimen C had higher tensile
carrying capacity attributed to the high-content cement paste.
Besides, the mechanical strengths of specimens A and B did
not differ significantly, with the variation less than 10%.
Figure 6d shows that the softening coefficients of spec-
imens A, B and C were greater than 0.80, indicating that
both single-layer and double-layer specimens exhibited good
water resistance. Compared with single-layer specimen A,
the softening coefficient of specimen B was increased by
5.7% and reached 0.92, while the softening coefficient of
specimen C was decreased by 4.8%.

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1.0 Table 3 NRC and α of Specimens NRC α

specimens A, B and C
A (single-layer) 0.48 0.48
Sound absorption coefficient

0.8 B 0.55 0.51

(double-layer)
C 0.52 0.46
0.6 (double-layer)
1.0
Sound absorption coefficient

0.8

0.4
0.6 frequencies of the specimen, but could improve the sound
0.4 absorption property at high frequency (2000 Hz). It is worth
0.2 0.2 noting that specimen A exhibited the highest sound absorp-
0.0
0 500 1000
tion coefficient at 4000 Hz, which was followed by specimen
Frequency/Hz
B and specimen C. In addition, the comparison between the
0.0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 double-layer specimens B and C shows that the sound absorp-
Frequency/Hz tion coefficients at 125–1000 Hz and 4000 Hz of specimen
B were all higher than those of specimen C, while at the
Fig. 7 Sound absorption coefficients at 100–5000 Hz of specimens A, frequency of 2000 Hz, the sound absorption coefficient of
B and C
specimen B was lower than that of specimen C.
The noise reduction coefficient (NRC) and the average
sound absorption coefficient (α) were employed to evaluate
3.2 Acoustic Properties the overall sound absorption performance of the specimens,
as stipulated in the Chinese standard of [20]. Thereinto, NRC
3.2.1 Sound Absorption Properties and α were calculated via Eqs. (2) and (3), respectively.

Figure 7 shows the sound absorption coefficients at α250 + α500 + α1000 + α2000
NRC  (2)
100–5000 Hz of specimens A, B and C. It can be observed that 4
with the increase in the frequencies from 100 Hz to around α125 + α250 + α500 + α1000 + α2000 + α4000
α (3)
1000 Hz, the sound absorption coefficients of all specimens 6
were increased gradually. The maximum absorption coef-
ficient of specimen A was at 1000 Hz, while the maximum where α125 , α250 , α500 , α1000 , α2000 and α4000 were the sound
absorption coefficients of specimens B and C were at 1250 Hz absorption coefficient at 125 Hz, 250 Hz, 500 Hz, 1000 Hz,
and 1500 Hz, respectively. It indicates that the first peak of 2000 Hz and 4000 Hz, respectively.
sound absorption coefficient was shifted to higher frequency Table 3 shows the NRC and α of specimens A, B and C.
by introducing gradient structure. This was attributed that the It can be found that specimen B had the highest NRC and α,
use of gradient structure changed the porosity in layer Y of indicating that the sound absorption property of double-layer
the specimen, thus influencing the resonance frequency of the specimen B with reasonable gradient structure was the best.
specimen. After the frequency of the maximum absorption It is worth noting that the NRC of specimen C was higher
coefficient, the sound absorption coefficient of the specimen than that of specimen A, while the α of specimen C was
exhibited the trend of decreasing first and then increasing. lower than that of specimen A. This was reasonable as that
Moreover, the sound absorption coefficients at 125, 250, specimen A exhibited a higher sound absorption coefficient
500, 1000 and 2000 Hz of specimen B were higher than that at 4000 Hz compared with specimen C, resulting in a higher
of specimen A. In specific, the sound absorption coefficients average sound absorption coefficient (α) for specimen A. In
at 125 Hz, 250 Hz, 500 Hz, 1000 Hz and 2000 Hz of speci- other words, compared to specimen A, specimen C exhibited
men B were, respectively, increased by 14.3%, 7.7%, 12.5%, better sound absorption performance at 250–2000 Hz, but
7.4% and 24.6% compared with specimen A. This indicates worse sound absorption property at 125–4000 Hz.
that employing proper gradient structure could improve the
sound absorption performance at 125–2000 Hz. The sound 3.2.2 Sound Insulation Properties
absorption coefficients at 125–1000 Hz of specimen C were
lower than those of specimen A, while the absorption coef- Figure 8 shows the sound reduction indexes at 100–5000 Hz
ficients at 2000 Hz of specimen C were higher than those of of specimens A, B and C. It can be observed that the sound
specimen A. It suggests that the high compactness adopted reduction indexes at 100–5000 Hz of specimen C were the
in the layer Y of specimen C was not conducive to enhanc- highest, with the sound reduction index ranging from 10 to
ing the sound absorption performance at low and medium 20 dB. The subsequent were specimen B and specimen A,

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20
Sound insulation volume/dB
15
10
5
0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500
Frequency/Hz
Fig. 8 Sound reduction indexes at 100–5000 Hz of specimens A, B and
C men A was 80.1%. For double-layer specimens B and C, the
Table 4 Average sound
Specimens
reduction index (R) of
specimens A, B and C A (single-layer)
B (double-layer)
C (double-layer)
which had the sound reduction index ranging from 9 to 15 dB
and 7 to 14 dB, respectively.
Table 4 gives the average sound reduction index (R) of
specimens A, B and C, which was calculated via Eq. (4).
R125 + R250 + R500 + R1000 + R2000 + R4000
R
6
where R125 , R250 , R500 , R1000 , R2000 and R4000 were the
sound reduction index at 125 Hz, 250 Hz, 500 Hz, 1000 Hz,
2000 Hz and 4000 Hz, respectively.
Table 4 shows that the R of double-layer specimen was
higher than that of single-layer specimen, specifically, the R
of specimens B and C was increased by 29.4% and 63.6%,
respectively, compared with the specimen A. This indicates
that the sound insulation properties of double-layer speci-
mens B and C were significantly enhanced by introducing
gradient structure compared with single-layer specimen A.
Moreover, the R of double-layer specimen C was higher
than that of double-layer specimen B due to the high-content
cement paste adopted in the layer Y of specimen C.
From the above results of sound absorption coefficient
and sound reduction index, it can be concluded that speci-
men B with appropriate gradient structure not only improved
the sound absorption properties but also enhanced the sound
insulation performance compared with the single-layer spec-
imen A. It suggests that using proper gradient structure had
a positive effect on improving the acoustic performance, i.e.,
sound absorption properties and sound insulation proper-
ties, of the ceramsite sound absorbing board. In addition, the
average absorption coefficient of specimen C was decreased
compared with the specimen B due to the high-content
cement paste in the layer Y, which obstructed the entry and
consumption of sound waves to some extent. However, it is
worth mentioning that the sound insulation property of spec-
imen C was the best among the three groups of specimens A,
B and C due to the dense structure of layer Y.
4 Discussions
4.1 Physical Structure Model
Figure 9 gives the cross-sectional view of specimens A, B and
C. The results show that the porosity of single-layer speci-
porosity of layer X was 80.1%, while the porosity of layer Y
R/dB was 75.9% and 67.6%, respectively. The existing research has
9.56 reported that sound absorption coefficients at 100–4000 Hz
12.37 of cenosphere-reinforced concrete were all below 0.40, and
15.64 the noise reduction coefficient (NRC) was lower than 0.16
[21]. It indicates that the cenosphere-reinforced concrete with
less porosity was a reflective material rather than a sound-
absorbing material. In summary, it was the high porosity of
the ceramsite porous boards in this work that the sound waves
could easily enter the interior of the boards and then be con-
sumed; thus, ceramsite porous boards exhibited better sound
absorption performance than concrete.
A good understanding of the relationship between compo-
(4) sitions, structures and properties of ceramsite porous boards
with gradient structure was important, and the correspond-
ing physical structure model was established according to
the cross-sectional view of specimens A, B and C (Fig. 9).
The physical structure models of specimens A, B and C are
shown in Fig. 10a–c, respectively. The established model
was based on the considerations of gradient structure and the
assumption that ceramsite particles with different sizes were
regular spheres. The accumulation state of ceramsites and
the process of absorption, reflection and transmission of the
acoustic wave in ceramsite porous materials were shown by
the model. Thereinto, incident sound energy, reflected sound
energy, absorbed sound energy, consumed heat energy and
transmitted sound energy were expressed as E in , E re , E ab ,
E heat and E tr , respectively.
For mechanical properties, Fig. 10a shows that the ceram-
site sound-absorbing specimen was composed of ceramsite
coated with a layer of cement paste, and there was a weak
area between ceramsite and cement paste, i.e., interface tran-
sition zone (ITZ) [22]. This suggests that the strength of
ceramsite porous material was governed by the strength of
aggregate phase (the strength of ceramsite itself), the strength
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Fig. 9 Cross-sectional view of specimens A, B and C
of cement paste and the bond strength between ceramsite and
cement paste, which was consistent with the opinion of Ref.
[10]. When the number and gradation of ceramsite phase
remained constant, the bond strength between ceramsite and
cement paste was dependent on the content of cement paste
on the surface of ceramsite. In comparison with the layer Y
of specimen B, there were more adhesive sites between adja-
cent ceramsites in the layer Y of specimen C due to the higher
content of cement paste adopted. Thus, the strength of layer
Y of specimen C was higher, resulting in the overall compres-
sive and flexural strengths of specimen C being higher than
those of specimen B. Moreover, the denser structure from the
mixture of coarse and fine ceramsite had a positive effect on
the specimen’s strength. At the same time, the total surface
area of ceramsite was increased through the mixing of coarse
and fine ceramsite; thus, the content of cement paste on the
surface of ceramsite was reduced when the total content of
cement paste remained constant, resulting in a reduction in
the specimen’s strength. As a result, the contribution of the
above positive and negative effects led to little variation in
the strength of layer Y of specimen B compared to specimen
A, as well as in the overall compressive and flexural strengths
between specimens A and B.
For sound absorption properties, Fig. 10a shows that the
incident sound energy entered the interior of single-layer
specimen A when the normal incident acoustic wave was
propagated to its surface. There were two main ways to
absorb sound energy by the material of layer X. One was
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that in the process of acoustic wave propagation inside layer
X, the acoustic wave vibrated the air of micropores or voids
in the materials. The other was that acoustic waves rubbed
with the pore wall of ceramsite. The above two main ways
led to the sound energy being consumed according to the vis-
cosity resistance of air and the friction effect of the wall of
the pores [6, 23]. Subsequently, the transmitted sound energy
was formed when the acoustic wave passed through the layer
X.
Figure 10b shows the physical structure model of the
double-layer specimen B. Unlike specimen A which had only
one size of pores, specimen B included two sizes of pores due
to the two layers with different mixture design. Thus, when
the acoustic wave was propagated to the interface between
layer X and layer Y, in addition to part of the acoustic wave
entering the layer Y, the other part of the acoustic wave was
reflected into layer X for another round of consumption. This
was attributed that when the sound waves entered the inter-
face of different media, the reflection phenomenon of sound
waves would occur due to the different sound resistivity of
the media [24, 25]. So, the double-layer specimen B had
two different media (layer X and layer Y), leading to multi-
ple reflection and propagation of sound waves [26–28], thus
considerably consuming the sound energy. Therefore, speci-
men B with proper gradient structure exhibited higher sound
absorption coefficients at basically all frequencies than those
of specimen A. As a result, the double-layer specimen B had
Acoustics Australia
(a) Single-layer specimen A
(c) Double-layer specimen C
Fig. 10 Physical structure model of ceramsite sound absorbing boards
higher noise reduction coefficient and average sound absorp-
tion coefficient compared with the single-layer specimen A.
Figure 10c shows the physical structure model of the
double-layer specimen C. It can be observed that layer Y of
specimen C was denser compared with specimen B because
the internal void was filled with high-content cement paste.
When the incident sound energy reached the interface of lay-
ers X and Y, most of the sound wave was reflected into layer
X, and only a small part of the sound energy was consumed
due to the lack of pores or voids in layer Y of the specimen
(b) Double-layer specimen B
C. As a result, specimen C depended primarily on the sound-
absorbing material of layer X to achieve sound absorption,
resulting in the lowest average sound absorption coefficient
among the three groups of specimens A, B and C.
Additionally, for sound insulation properties, specimen
A was the single-layer board with a homogenous structure
prepared by coarse ceramsite, which meant the overall pore
size of specimen A was the largest among the three groups
of specimens. Also, the layer Y of specimen B adopted a
mixture of coarse ceramsite and fine ceramsite, and the layer
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Table 5 Comparisons of the
properties of specimens Samples Density
Specimen A Lowest
Specimen B Medium
Specimen C Largest
Y of specimen C added more cement paste to the mixture
of coarse ceramsite and fine ceramsite. So the compactness
of layer Y of specimen C was higher than that of specimen
B. The sound insulation principle suggested that the denser
the material (the smaller the pore size), the better the sound
insulation property [29]. Therefore, the value of transmitted
sound energy of specimen A (E tr1 ) was the largest, which was
followed by specimen B (E tr2 ) and specimen C (E tr3 ). This
was consistent with the results of sound insulation properties
in this research. It indicates that the sound insulation perfor-
mance of the double-layer specimen was better than that of
the single-layer specimen, and the sound reduction index was
enhanced with the increase in the compactness of the layer
Y in the double-layer specimen. In conclusion, an appropri-
ate gradient structure adopted in ceramsite sound absorbing
boards could play a good dual role in sound absorption and
sound insulation.
4.2 Comparisons of the Properties of Specimens
According to the investigation of the physical properties,
mechanical properties and acoustic properties of the ceram-
site sound absorbing boards in this work, the comparisons of
the properties of specimens are given in Table 5. It can be
found that double-layer specimen B exhibited promising per-
formance in all aspects, and its sound absorption properties
were the best. The double-layer specimen C had the highest
strength and the best sound insulation performance, but its
sound absorption properties was the worst and its density was
the largest. For the single-layer specimen A, although it had
the lowest density, its strength and sound insulation perfor-
mance were worst. In summary, each specimen exhibited its
own advantages and disadvantages in properties, and thus,
we need to adopt the ceramsite sound absorbing boards with
appropriate gradient structure according to the requirements
in the actual engineering.
5 Conclusions
To provide theoretical reference and technical support for
preparing gradient-structured ceramsite sound absorbing
boards used in field applications, single-layer and double-
layer ceramsite sound absorbing boards were designed
and manufactured. The mechanical and acoustic properties,
including the bulk density, compressive strength, flexural
123
Acoustics Australia
Strength Sound absorption properties Sound insulation properties
Lowest Medium Worst
Medium Best Medium
Highest Worst Best
strength, softening coefficient, sound absorption coefficients
and sound reduction indexes, of these prepared ceramsite
sound absorbing boards were studied. At last, the correspond-
ing mechanism was discussed. Based on the results from this
study, the following conclusions can be drawn:
1. The bulk density, compressive strength and flexural
strength of double-layer ceramsite sound absorbing
board with suitable mix proportion design were almost
identical to those of single-layer ceramsite sound absorb-
ing board.
2. The compressive and flexural strengths of ceramsite
sound absorbing boards were greater than 3 MPa and
1 MPa, respectively. All ceramsite sound absorbing
boards in this work demonstrated good water resistance,
with softening coefficients greater than 0.80. Such good
strength and durability of ceramsite sound absorbing
boards support their field application in future.
3. Introducing proper gradient structure could improve
the sound absorption performance at low and medium
frequencies of ceramsite sound absorbing boards. The
double-layer board B with reasonable gradient structure
exhibited better overall sound absorption properties and
overall sound insulation performance at 125–4000 Hz
compared with the single-layer board A.
4. The sound insulation properties at 125–4000 Hz of
double-layer specimens B and C adopted gradient struc-
ture were significantly enhanced compared with the
single-layer specimen A. What is more, the compactness
of layer Y in double-layer board could not be too high;
otherwise, it would reduce the sound absorption property
at 125–1000 Hz of ceramsite sound absorbing board.
5. The physical structure model successfully illustrated the
process of absorption, reflection and transmission of the
acoustic wave in the material and explained the variation
of mechanical and acoustic properties of ceramsite sound
absorbing board.
Acknowledgements The authors greatly acknowledge the financial
support received from the science and technology development project
of China Railway Design Corporation (Grant No.2021A240904), the
Yunnan Provincial Department of Science and Technology Planning
Project (Grant No.202004AR040022) and the independent explo-
ration project for postgraduates of Central South University (Grant
No.2021zzts0783).
Acoustics Australia
Declarations
Conflict of interest The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare
that are relevant to the content of this article.
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